Not Your Father’s Root Beer – and not a cider (or beer) review!

This is more of a Public Service Announcement, not a cider review. I was fooled into buying Not Your Father’s Rootbeer for my husband. I thought it was “Ale brewed with spices” as the label advertised, but it is an artificially flavored alcoholic (5.9% ABV) root beer like beverage. Some would call this “Alcopop“, a flavored malt beverage.

I guess I won’t buy beverages like this again without looking it up online, but I was in a hurry and it was interesting. Plus it was at Trader Joe’s, and I didn’t think they would sell such a fake product! The beverage started off tasting like a normal non-alcoholic root beer (just as sweet as soda), then finished a bit bitter and slightly beer-like. I could see how this would be appealing to a 21 year old.

It didn’t however much resemble beer as it was relatively drinkable to me, and I don’t like beer at all. I attempted to finish off the bottle as my husband rejected it, but about halfway through I was done with it, as it was overly filling and kinda made my stomach hurt. Apparently this is popular though? Some others have seen through the craft beer disguise, such as Top Fermented and Philly. I’m fine with folks drinking what they like, but I think there is some mis-representation going on here.